


Well, How Did That Happen?

by nothing_much



Category: Emmerdale, robron
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 12:03:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19829812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothing_much/pseuds/nothing_much
Summary: “I’m so happy he met you, and that he finally told me about you two” the unidentified woman told him. That made Robert startle and realise that there was something going on here, that he really hadn’t caught up with.Something weird is going on....





	Well, How Did That Happen?

So, Robert tried to choose between a quiet night in with junkfood, or well, a quiet night in and celebrate moving in with some luxury snacks. Beer or wine, crisps or tapas like. It was his first night back, no one was expecting him for another week, and he was off work in the morning. He decided on junk and picked up a six pack of beer in the small refrigerator at the shop. There weren't much of a wine selection in the store anyway. He made his way towards the snacks when he heard someone call out his name in surprise. 

The first call sounded surprised, the second even more so, but it was the same voice, and it seemed somewhat familiar. He looked around to see the source of it. The only people, except staff, he saw was two women at the counter both looking at him expectantly. It seemed like he was supposed to know them. As he searched his memory, he realised he was all kinds of stupid, one of them was his step mom. He hadn't seen her in a while. But it wasn't her he'd heard calling his name. 

He approached them and put a smile on his face. 

"Dianne, how lovely to see you!" he said and folded his arms around her in an embrace. The smile became more warm, as he realised she hugged him back, he hadn’t been sure. They hadn’t met since he’d been back. To his surprise the other woman followed Dianne and hugged him closely. He heard her mutter something that sounded like “finally”. He wondered what that was all about. He had no clue who the woman in his arms was. 

As she let go of him, she stepped back as if to get a better look. Then she turned to his stepmother, and they smiled at each other. 

“This is the best of luck” the woman said and his stepmother nodded at her. He shrugged. 

“Aaron will be home soon,” she added looking directly at Robert as if he knew what she meant. He had no clue as of who she was talking about or why. Dianne seemed to be in on it though. 

“Wouldn’t it be a good idea to surprise him with dinner” the woman asked, Robert who felt like it was none of his business didn’t bother to answer instead he looked to Dianne who nodded eagerly and turned to look expectantly at him. He shrugged again since he didn’t really know what they were on about. 

“I’m so happy he met you, and that he finally told me about you two” the unidentified woman told him. That made Robert startle and realise that there was something going on here, that he really hadn’t caught up with. 

Diane turned to him. “Aaron usually doesn’t tell his mum about his relationships, she has to figure things out by herself” she told him. Robert choked on air as he realised what was going on. He managed to make it inconspicuous and neither Diane or the woman seemed to think anything of it. 

“So, how about we surprise him with dinner” the woman asked. Somewhere within himself Robert couldn’t tell them that this Aaron bloke had lied to them. How was he supposed to make this happen? He looked at them and smiled.

“Oh, I know just what to make” he said, “you go, and I’ll meet you outside when I’m done shopping” he continued as a plan swiftly took form in his head. They smiled thankfully at him and he looked down in his almost empty shopping basket before looking up seeing them leave. As soon as they were out of sight, and hopefully couldn’t hear him, he grabbed his phone and quickly found the right contact for this.

It took 3 signals to get through, before he heard someone pick up the phone. He didn’t give them time to say anything.

“Vic? I need your help” he stated quickly, and heard a questioning hum on the other side. “Theoretically, if someone was to make their boyfriend a surprise dinner with his mother in law, and her friend present, what would one cook?” he heard a snigger on the other side of the line.

“Robert, first you’re not gay, and second, you don’t have a boyfriend” his sister helpfully told him.

“Never mind that” he snapped at her, “I only asked theoretically”.

“Well, theoretically, there are a lot of dishes you can use”

He knew calling his sister, a girl, with experience of having a boyfriend, who was also a chef was a good idea. 

“I wouldn’t make it something too simple or too difficult”, she continued. “Is it someone I know, or?” she asked before she went quiet.

This was a bad idea he realised. They lived in the same village, of course she knew this Aaron guy. There couldn’t be too many gay blokes called Aaron in a village as small as Emmerdale. 

“Vic, we are speaking theoretically, so, no, you do not know imaginary boyfriend bloke” he told her

She sniggered, “So, I know him” she said.

“What dinner would you make?” he asked her again.

“Well, what I would make, and what you will make, are two different things” she told him. Then asked him “Would you want to impress the boyfriend and these ‘in-laws’ or just feed them.

Robert thought for a while. Then he gave up. “You know me,” he told her, “always trying to impress”.

She giggled at the truth in those words. 

“Are you at the shop now?” she asked him.

He told her which shop, and she told him to check the asparagus, as they were a nice starter, with butter and bacon. Then she helped him with the ingredients to a nice chicken casserole, and for dessert pie, and ice cream. He thanked her, ended the call, paid for the groceries, and went outside to meet up with the women waiting for him. 

He had two problems right now, first, he had to figure out what Aaron’s mum was called. Second, he had to find out where this Aaron lived, and hope for the best.

As he left the store, Diane walked up to him, and told him that Chas would take their car, and she would go with him in his car. He relaxed, she would know where Aaron lived. He tensed again. She would also expect him to know where Aaron lived. So, not good. She jumped in to the car and started to ask him questions. He tried to figure out a way to turn the tables, so he could try to figure out where the bloke lived. 

In the end it was easier than he imagined. He drove Diane home, and before he could gather himself and reveal the truth, that he had no clue who this Aaron was or where he lived, she eased out of the car and told him to park it, and bring his groceries in, so he could start on dinner. Aaron obviously lived in the pub with them. He let out a relieved sigh. He would show these people that he was a really good boyfriend to Aaron. Well what did guys like? He realised he had to call Vic again.

She picked up immediately this time.   
He was greeted with a “So, how is it going?”.

Choking on air he stuttered something in the phone, and got a joyous laugh in return. She was having fun.

“I was wondering, still theoretically, what does guys expect from their boyfriends when they are surprised with dinner at home?” he asked. This got his sister laughing out loud.

“Well, Robert, you are not gay, you do not have a boyfriend that I’m aware of, you don’t seem to know this bloke. What’s going on?” she asked him. He thought about hanging up. 

“I’m trying out a new career” he tried “I want to be a writer” this got her laughing so much she seemed to drop the phone. He did hang up.

He went into the apartment behind the pub with his grocery bags. Diane let him in, and he tried to make himself at home in the very small kitchen area, and started to prepare the food. As soon as Diane left him alone, he went around the room, trying to find out who this Aaron was. It didn’t take long before he spotted a picture with this Chas-woman in it, and a young bloke in a coverall. He seemed to be a mechanic. Very young. Robert really hoped that this was an old picture, it was difficult to judge with Chas, she looked the same, but the bloke looked like a teenager. 

Well they wouldn’t be so nice to him if his boyfriend was under aged, would they?

He went back to the counter, and continued with the food. He set the table, and took the pie out of the oven, put it under a cloth, checked on the casserole before he started with the asparagus and bacon. Wrapping the vegetable in bacon was soothing. He almost forgot where he was, until the front opened, and a rough voice called through to the kitchen.

“Dinner smells amazing, I’ll just take a shower and change clothes, and be right down”

It was a really nice voice. It did things to Robert. He smiled before he suddenly realised that Aaron didn’t know he was here, or even who he was. He spent the next ten minutes trying to figure out how to prepare him, without getting neither Diane or Chas suspicious. He failed. He couldn’t call his sister, she would figure it out, and he couldn’t ask Diane for obvious reasons. He gritted his teeth, and did the only thing he could think of. He prayed. And decided to try to intercept Aaron when he came down. Hopefully before the others arrived.

*

He could hear Aaron in the stairs, at the same time he could hear the ladies approach from another door. He kind of froze like a deer in headlights. Not knowing where to go or what to do. He could hear Aaron stop in the stairs and go up again, which helped his brains to unfreeze. 

Impress his brain screamed at him. It seemed to be his default mode, that and being a smart alec. He took a deep breath, and decided to meet Aaron in the doorway, as a good boyfriend should. It should be the same even if they were both male. He’d never been a very good boyfriend to his exes, but well, that’s another story.

He put a smile on his face, and greeted the ladies, told them to sit down at the table before he turned to the other door. Footsteps approaching an he felt kind of nervous. That kid in the pictures seemed so young. For the first time he doubted himself. Maybe he couldn’t do this. But the kid needed help. And he’d said yes. 

He had.

The door opened slowly. He braced himself and moved forwards, meeting the one entering in the doorway, pushing him into the hallway behind him. He seemed startled. Robert realised that this was no kid. It was a gorgeous, very, looking guy in his early twenties. Dark, lean and handsome. Everything Robert liked in a guy. 

Maybe he wasn’t gay, but he could appreciate men to. He’d even slept with a couple of them. Didn’t make him gay though. 

That wasn’t the point though. He had to somehow make Aaron aware of what was going on. 

“Whaa – hh” the word, and probably sentence was cut short as Robert as an instinct shut the other man’s mouth with his own. He instantly questioned himself. He had two good hands, and could have used one of those. Instead he was in a dark, well darkish, hallway kissing a bloke. As soon as he realised what he was doing he pulled back. 

“Oh, sorry about that” he whispered in the other guy’s ear.

He was just about to explain when a taunting voice sounded from the kitchen.

“If you two can tear yourself away from each other, dinner seems to be ready” followed by a “Aaron, you already know him, now let us get to know your boyfriend”. 

Robert could feel the man in his arms stiffen, and released him. He turned and walked back into the room, heading for the stove and the entrees.   
Serving them he noticed Aaron slowly, hesitantly walking into the room, looking around, trying to get hang of the situation. He seemed to be annoyed. Quite a bit annoyed. Like grumpy annoyed. 

The Chas lady hit him over the head, and told him to man up. He snickered at that. Aaron seemed even more annoyed, and quite a bit flustered. Robert decided to play along, he smiled at Aaron from the other side of him, and put his hand on his thigh.

“Do you need me to defend you against your mother” he asked with a wink, and felt the other man tense up again. Robert let go of his leg and turned his face to Chas with an innocent look on it. Aaron looked at him. He looked betrayed. Like Robert had betrayed him. He hadn’t had he? Yes, he’d teased him? But? He decided to be quiet and eat.

Moments later, everything seemed to be in order, when Marlon entered the kitchen, and asked for help in the pub. Something had come up. Aaron’s mother and Diane looked at each other, before Chas rose and left the room. Robert looked over at Aaron, feeling somewhat askew. But at that moment Aaron’s eyes met his. He met it the only way he knew how. He smirked. Diane stod up and started to collect the entry dishes. Robert offered to help, and took Aaron’s empty dish, he walked to the kitchen to take the main course to the table. 

When Diane sat down, Aaron got up under the pretence to help him carry. He looked sheepish and flushed.

“I’m so sorry about the boyfriend stuff” he whispered under his breath. And Robert looked at him. He smirked again.

“It’s not you who made a three course dinner for your pretend boyfriend, you’ve got nothing to be sorry about” he whispered back. At that he got a genuine smile out of Aaron. He decided there and then, that, that smile, just there, was worth every bit of the evening, and he vowed that he’d try anything to make it a somewhat permanent feature on the other man’s face. He winked. Let’s go eat.

They didn’t have to wait long for Chas to return. She picked up on the ease in the air, and told Diane about what had happened with Marlon in the kitchen. It didn’t take long for them to find things to talk about and the rest of the meal was quite enjoyable for all involved. Robert’s shoulders relaxed and he got Aaron to smile more than once, which made him happy. 

He felt like he was really doing well. Impressing his step-mum, boyfriend and his mother. No, wait, his fake boyfriend. He was funny, caring, of course he was caring, who wouldn’t care for someone like Aaron. The man oozed some kind of violent care for the people around him when he spoke. Chas seemed to feel the same, with fierce love for her son, and family. The way she spoke about them. They were Dingles weren’t they. Family first. Not like his own family. He kind of wanted to be cared for like that. He found himself wanting to be Aarons boyfriend for real, be cared for like that. And care for like that. 

Dinner progressed into dessert. He felt really good with how they all liked his cooking. Aaron seemed to enjoy it immensely. Robert wasn’t the only one noticing. Diane asked about it.

“Aaron, dear? Are you enjoying the meal? She asked him. Aaron looked at her like she was some kind of barmy. 

“Of course I am,” he said, “my boyfriend just cooked us dinner, it seems I struck gold you know” he winked at her, “not just handsome, he cooks too”. He turned to Robert with another of his bright smiles.

Robert couldn’t hold back a smile at that. He imagined other dinners, just the two of them. He imagined more, but stopped himself. 

When dinner was done, and Robert was more than sure he’d made a good impression with both the women and Aaron, he started to clear away the table putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and preparing the leftover food for the refrigerator. Aaron got up and helped him, he knew where they kept things. He felt a bit awkward, and realised that Aaron did to. 

All things cleaned up, he looked at the others a little awkward, and collected himself to leave. Aaron seemed to understand, and looked at his mum and Diane. 

“We’ll have a pint in the pub now” he stated and grabbed Robert’s hand, almost pulling him through the door.

“Not wanting the date to end” Chas laughed after them. Robert turned his head towards her before he was pulled out the door, and as their eyes met, he winked at her. 

Aaron poured them a pint each, and they made it to an empty table for two in a corner. Even before they sat down, facing each other, Aaron started to fidget, and talk, trying to explain himself, and tell Robert how sorry he was. 

“I didn’t do it on purpose, I didn’t know they’d think it was you” he started with a shrug. “Mum’s been really annoying about relationships lately, she’s been bickering, and nagging, so I finally gave in and told her I had a boyfriend, a couple of weeks ago” he went silent for a moment and seemed to think about what to say next, before he took a sip from his beer. Robert followed his example and stayed quiet. 

“Vic had been going on about how you were coming back, and how wonderful it was, and when mum started pestering me for a name, I refused to tell her, but she overheard me talking with Vic about you, and suddenly she started talking about Rob this, and Rob that, it took me a while, well, until tonight, to realise that she must have thought that you were my boyfriend” He looked sad now. “I truly am sorry” he added. 

Robert looked at him trying to look stern while also trying to come up with an answer, that would be sufficient. 

“Well, now you owe me” he told Aaron, who shrugged a little. 

“We’ll have to keep dating, to get your mum off your back,” he said, “because she’ll be even worse if you tell her the truth” he continued. Aaron looked like he was in pain. Gruesome pain, like he was tortured. Robert smirked again. 

“Is the thought of dating me such a bad thing?” he asked. Aaron lifted his head and looked at him with wide eyes. He leant forward, cheeks almost touching, “if we dated, I’d want it to be for real” he whispered in Aaron’s ear. Aaron’s head snapped up at that. He looked young and unsure. 

“You’d date me?” he asked in a weak voice.

Robert looked at him appreciative, up, and down, and this time a smile spread across his face. 

“I’d probably marry you, but yeah, let’s start with dating” he stated, the smile on Aaron’s face was answer enough.


End file.
